As we gather we will listen to some music.
Leader: We are gathered here tonight to worship God in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit,
All: Thanks be to God.
Leader: We are conscious that our worship is expressed both through coming together to pray & through our desire to live in the way Christ taught us. And so we pray:
Leader: Christ has no body now on earth All: but ours.
Leader: No feet All: but ours.
Leader: Ours are the eyes
All: with which he looks with compassion on the world.
Leader: Ours are the feet
All: by which he can go about doing good.
Leader: And ours All: are the hands by which others will be blessed & comforted.
Incense is lit & we sit.
Silently or aloud, as the week begins, we may like to place before the
Lord any particular thing that we have planned during the week – or
that you know is taking place – & ask for our prayer & God’s blessing.
Please stand & join in the hymn
This is what the Lord God asks of you, only this, that you
act justly, that you love tenderly, that you walk humbly with your God.
‘My children, I am with you such a little while, and where I go now,
you cannot come. a new commandment I give to you: as I have loved you, so love each other. (refrain.)
Do not let your hearts be troubled; trust in God now, & trust in me,
I go to prepare a place for you, and I shall come again to take you
home. (refrain.)
‘Peace is the gift I leave with you, a peace the world can never give.
If you keep my word, my Father will love you, and we will come to you to make our home. (refrain.)
Please sit to sing the psalms & their antiphons.
Cantors: The Lord’s revelation to my master:
Sit on my right.
Cantors: The Lord’s revelation to my Master: sit on my right.
Your foes I will put beneath your feet.
All: The Lord will wield from Sion your sceptre of power:
Rule in the midst of your foes.
Cantors: A prince from the day of your birth on the holy mountains:
From the womb before the dawn I begot you.
All: The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change,
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
Cantors: The Master standing at your right hand
Will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.
All: He shall drink from the stream by the wayside
And therefore he shall lift up his head.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen .
All: The Lord’s revelation to my master:
Sit on my right.
Cantors: The Lord is full of merciful love;
He makes us remember his wonders, alleluia!
Side 1: I will thank you, God, with all my heart
In the meeting of the just & their assembly.
Side 2: Great are your works
To be pondered by all who love them.
Side 1: Glorious & sublime are your works;
Your justice stands firm forever.
Side 2: You help us remember your wonders.
You are compassion & love.
Side 1: You give food to those who fear you,
Keeping your covenant ever in mind.
Side 2: You have shown your might to your people
By giving them the lands of the nations.
Side 1: Your works are justice & truth;
Your precepts are all of them sure.
Side 2: They are steadfast forever & ever,
Made in uprightness & faithfulness.
Side 1: You have sent deliverance to your people,
And established your covenant forever.
Side 2: Holy your name, greatly to be feared.
To fear you is the beginning of wisdom;
Side 1: All who do so prove themselves wise,
Your praise shall last forever!
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, World without end, Amen.
All: The Lord is full of merciful love;
He makes us remember his wonders, alleluia!
Reading: 1 Peter 1 3-5
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth as his sons & daughters, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away, because it is being kept for you in the heavens. Through your faith, God’s power will guard you until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the end of time.
After a pause we respond, singing twice:
Oh the word of my Lord, deep within my being.
Oh the word of my Lord, you have filled my heart.
Please stand to sing the Magnificat as indicated.
Cantor:
Wk 3: The spirit of the Lord rests upon me;
He has sent me to preach his gospel to the poor.
Wk 11: Jesus said to the woman,
‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace’.
Wk 19: Wherever your treasure is,
There also will your heart be, says the Lord.
Wk 27: Say to yourself, ‘We are useless servants,
We only did what we had to do.’
Side 1: My being proclaims your greatness,
And my spirit finds joy in you, God my Saviour;
Side 2: For you have looked upon me, your servant, in my lowliness:
All ages to come shall call me blessed.
Side 1: God, you who are mighty, have done great things for me:
Holy is your name.
Side 2: Your mercy is from age to age
Towards those who fear you.
Side 1: You have shown might with your arm,
And confused the proud in their inmost thoughts.
Side 2: You have deposed the mighty from their thrones,
And raised the lowly to high places.
Side 1: The hungry you have given every good thing,
While the rich you have sent away empty.
Side 2: You have upheld Israel, your servant,
Ever mindful of your mercy-
Side 1: Even as you promised our ancestors,
Promised Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants for ever.
All: Give praise to the Father Almighty,
To his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
To the Spirit who dwells in our hearts,
Both now and for ever, Amen.
Repeat antiphon as above.
Intercessions:
Reader: Mindful of those places & situations in the world where the light
of Christ may seem hidden for many, let us pray aloud or silently.
Following these spontaneous intercessions, we sing:
Cantors: For all those suffering, All: We pray to the Lord.
Cantors: For countries at war, All: We pray to the Lord.
Cantors: For children everywhere, All: We pray to the Lord.
Reader: We pray for people who have died today – for those who will die tonight – and for those whose anniversaries occur tomorrow, remembering especially………………………..
Pause for people to add silently or aloud any further intentions.
Leader begins the Our Father….
Leader: Grant, Almighty God, that with our thoughts on the things of the Spirit we may please you in all that we do & say. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
All: Preserve us, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us
while we are sleeping, that awake we may watch with
Christ, and asleep we may rest in peace. And may
Almighty God bless us – the Father Son and Holy Spirit
Amen.